What is a rent increase?
A rent increase is when a landlord raises the amount of money a tenant must pay to live in a property. From 1 May 2026, under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, landlords can only increase rent once a year to bring it in line with market rates. They must follow a specific legal process, using a Section 13 notice.
Landlords can no longer use rent review clauses in tenancy agreements to hike prices automatically.
Can a landlord increase the rent?
Landlords are entitled to increase the rent they charge, as long as they follow the correct procedures and the proposed rent increase is not excessive. The general rules for rent increases are that:
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the landlord must use the formal section 13 procedure
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the proposed rent increase cannot be higher than the current market rate for similar properties in the area (ie the increase needs to be in line with the rent the landlord would expect to receive if they were to relet the property on the open market)
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the landlord can only increase the rent once every 12 months
If a tenant receives a section 13 notice and believes the new rent is higher than the local market rate, they can challenge the increase by applying to the First-tier Tribunal (more on this below). The tribunal looks at the property and local prices to decide what the fair market rent should be.
When can a landlord increase the rent?
Under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, almost all private tenancies in England are now periodic tenancies (or APTs). This means there are no longer fixed-term tenancies (ie tenancies with a set end date) where rent stays the same for years without the possibility of a review.
For such APTs, a landlord cannot increase the rent more than once in any 12 months. The 12-month clock starts from either the beginning of the tenancy or the date of the last rent increase. Crucially for APTs, a landlord cannot increase the rent during the first year of the tenancy.
How can a landlord increase the rent?
If the landlord wishes to increase the rent, they have to use a Section 13 notice (also known as ‘Form 4A’). The rent increase notice can be served (ie given to the tenant):
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in person
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by post
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by email (if that’s allowed in the tenancy agreement)
While a landlord and tenant can discuss a rent increase and agree on a price in advance, the landlord must still serve a section 13 notice to make it legally binding. This ensures the tenant keeps their right to challenge the increase at a tribunal if they change their mind before the new rent starts.
How much notice is needed to increase the rent?
The landlord must give the tenant at least two months’ notice before the new rent starts. The notice period runs from the date of service of the section 13 notice. The increase must start at the beginning of a new period of the tenancy.
What happens after the section 13 notice has been served?
Once the notice has been served, the tenant has until the date of the rent increase to make a decision. If the tenant does nothing and starts paying the new amount, the rent will automatically increase. If the tenant wants to dispute the level of the rent increase, they need to apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).
The tribunal must receive the application before the rent increase date given on the section 13 notice. If a tenant applies to the tribunal, the rent won't increase until the tribunal makes a decision. If the tribunal decides the new rent should be higher than the old rent, they can backdate the increase to the date in the original notice.
Negotiating an increase
It may not be beneficial for the landlord to impose an increase in rent. The tenant may no longer want to rent the property, in which case, the landlord will have to spend time and expense re-letting the property. It may also be an inconvenience for the landlord to find suitable replacement tenants, especially if there was a good relationship with the previous tenants.
The tenant will want to either have the rent stay the same or have a minimal increase in the rent. Therefore, it could be advantageous to negotiate the rent increase, for example, to include a rent increase both parties are happy with or to roll out the rent increase in incremental stages over a period of time. Even if you agree on a price through negotiation, the landlord must still send a formal rent increase notice to ensure the process is legal.
Do not hesitate to Ask a lawyer if you have any questions or concerns.
